Somewhere I Have Never Travelled
by Colours Doyle
Summary: In 2004 violent, drug-addicted Lennon Bradley left her home in suburban Georgia for India to cleanse her body and mind. When the apocalypse hit 6 years later Lennon forced her way back to the states. With an aura of non-violence she brutally kills each and every undead that threatens her and all be damned if she didn't make Daryl Dixon weak in the knees.
1. Chapter 1

Somewhere I Have Never Travelled

* * *

_This story is set just before season one, episode five but is a bit different. I'm extending the time where Rick, Glenn, Daryl, and T-Dog come back from Atlanta and the walker attack. This story begins in that time. And please do leave reviews! I love them! And I want to know what you all think! 3_

* * *

Daryl's eyes were fixed on a small rabbit leisurely munching on grass thirty feet from where he sat. He aimed and shot, snagging the hare through it's neck. As he waltzed over to claim his kill a sudden rustle in the close distance startled him.

Out of no where a woman skidded to a halt in the leaves at the sight of Daryl's bow aimed at her.

"Sh-shit—don't shoot me, don't please!" She cried out, her back on the ground, arms raised at the elbows, her chest heaving.

"Where'd you come from?" Daryl asked behind the eye of his bow. The woman wore nothing but her matted blonde hair, an oversized denim shirt that hardly covered anything past her waist, and the blood that covered her entirely.

"Just west of here, 'bout two hours away."

"Gotta camp there?"

"No." She muttered grudgingly. "I-I was out hunting yesterday and got lost. Some men found me, said they had a group, that I'd be safe there for a couple days. They didn't even have anything more than a can of beans and colt pistol between the eight of them, just brought me back so they could have a little fun. I got out before they got their chance." Daryl paused, this woman's accent was certainly not from Georgia, and certainly not anything he'd ever heard. It was like she didn't even have an accent.

"Why you wearin' nothin' but a shirt?" The woman sighed.

"Well, I just barely got out in time. I had no other choice. Moaners were surrounding us and all they wanted was a fucking romp in the woods. I killed as many as I could with my hands and ran. That-that's why I'm covered in blood."

"You been runnin' for two hours?"

"Straight." She nodded, unsure and unsettled that his arrow was still on her. "I'm not looking for help, just don't shoot me. Just let me pass and we can both be on our way." Daryl lowered his weapon slowly and crouched at his backpack, digging through it.

"Nu-uh, girl. They coulda followed ya, all covered in blood like 'at, prolly attracted half the walkers in a mile with a quick wiff." He quickly found what he was looking for and stood back up.

"Shit. I didn't mean to. I was just trying to get back to my camp. It's not far from here. Just let me go. I swear I haven't heard a moaner for at least half an hour. What are you doing?" She asked as Daryl walked toward her.

"Can't take any chances, girl. I'm sorry 'bout this." Daryl said as he pulled a zip-tie and approached her.

"You've got to be kidding me." The woman said as Daryl zipped her wrists together behind her back.

"Jus' takin' precaution."

The woman rolled her eyes as her wrists instantly began to ache with the tension.

* * *

Night had fallen and Daryl had made a small fire in between the two of them. The woman sat against a tree, hands still tied, staring occasionally at Daryl with malicious annoyance.

"We'll head back to my camp at dawn, for now you should sleep."

The woman just stared into the fire, ignoring his words. Daryl sighed and mumbled to himself as he peered around, cautious of any walkers. He knew it was stupid for him to take her prisoner, but he didn't think he had another choice. Girl like her running around half naked and covered in blood? Couldn't possibly end well, and he didn't want that on his conscious.

"What's your name?" He asked after about an hour of silence. She continued with her unrelenting secrecy. "Fine, be that way, I don' care." It was a few short moments before she spoke up.

"Lennon. But I prefer Len." She said gently, still staring into the fire.

"What, like John Lennon?"

She chuckled, having not heard that in a long while. "Yeah. My parents were big fans."

"You gotta last name?"

"I don't really have any need for one anymore."

Daryl nodded, "Guess that's true."

"Do you have a name?"

"Daryl." Len nodded, and laughed.

"It's nice to meet you Daryl." She said sarcastically, considering the circumstances they were in.

Daryl chuckled gently and watched with Len as the fire blew to the left with the wind.

* * *

Just as the fire was about to weasel down to it's embers Len still hadn't gotten any sleep. She had quickly ditched the idea of trying to run away, as she figured she was safer with Daryl anyway. But she kept at trying to break the zip-tie that bound her wrists together. After Daryl had fallen asleep against the same tree she was leant against she struggled even harder, wearing herself out, if only slightly. As the sun began to rise and the morning dew almost completely extinguished the fire's embers a gargled moan and foot shuffles not ten feet from where they sat made Len begin to panic.

"Daryl." Len pushed him with her shoulder but he showed no signs of waking up. "Daryl!"

The walker shuffled it's way over to them and Len quickly shot her foot out and tripped it in front of her. It yelled and clawed at her but she quickly slammed her bare heel into it's skull, not fulling killing it. She stood quickly and jumped up off the ground and onto the walker's skull, smashing it's skull and squishing it's brains in between her toes.

"Oh gross." She groaned as she wiped her feet against the grass, a sad attempt at cleaning off the red-brown clumps. And then she heard another moan. "You've got to be jok—Daryl!"

The walker grasped Len's shirt and ripped the sleeve as she jumped over the dead walker and glanced at her captor who was still soundly sleep. Her eyebrows knit it panic and surprise that that man could still be asleep. She kicked some ember's into the thing's face and that made it stagger back as she rushed around looking for something to help her break the zip-tie that held her hands behind her back, completely incapacitating her for the most part.

With no success she forced the bile down her throat and rushed toward the walker's legs, knocking it to the ground as she tumbled to her back. Len quickly killed it just as she had the other. But her yelling and grunting suddenly attracted two more walkers already on top of her. One grabbed her hair and the other grabbed her leg.

"DARYL!" She screamed, ripping her leg out of the dead man's hands, forcing away the feel of it's skin that remained on her ankle and rammed her head back into the other's nose, making it fall to the ground. She laughed, seeing that the bone had penetrated it's brain. Catching her breath Len forced the walker back with her shoulder, kicking it with her leg.

The thing still moaned and clawed at her, gargling and clamping it's jaws at her.

With a deep breath and concentrated force Len broke the zip-tie, slicing her wrist only slightly. She grabbed a rock Daryl had used to form the fire pit, aimed and clocked the walker in the forehead. It stumbled backward and fell on top of Daryl's legs, waking him with a start. He saw it and kicked it away, pulling out his knife, but it was already dead.

He looked around and caught sight of Len who's chest was heaving and was covered in even more blood.

"Morning." She said, trying to wipe the blood from her eyes.

"...Holy shit." He breathed out, still half asleep and completely shocked at the bodies that laid around his feet. He looked at Len who's lips were formed in a line, waiting for him to do or say something. "Why didn' ya wake me up?!"

"You wouldn't fucking wake up!" She yelled back at him. "You're welcome, by the way." Len walked past him to his pack, looking for a cloth to clean the brain clumps from her feet.

"Jesus." He muttered to himself. "...I-uh think I saw a stream not far from here, you can get cleaned up better there." He dug through his bag, handing her a t-shirt and a pair of jeans. "Here. It's all I got right now until we can get back to camp then I can drive you up to yours."

Len nodded. "What direction?"

He pointed north, "'Bout a five minute walk." He handed her a knife, "Take this."

Len widened her eyes. "You trust me with this now?"

He scoffed, "I trust ya with my life now, girl. You coulda let them walkers get at me, but you didn't. I owe you."

Len shook her head and muttered before walking away, "You don't owe me anything."

* * *

While Len was gone Daryl inspected the four walkers that she had killed. He could hardly believe that that woman was capable of something like this. She had to be fast, that was the only probable explanation that he could come up with. She even got out of that zip-tie as well. While zip-ties aren't impossible to break it takes a lot of force and when he bound her wrists they were exactly the most burly set he'd ever seen. In fact they were probably some of the thinest he'd seen. This girl was probably thinner and definitely smaller than Lori, how the fuck was she capable of such brute force?

About twenty minutes later Len arrived back with Daryl's t-shirt on, the end tied in a knot at her waist and his jeans held up with her hand, the legs rolled just above her ankles. Daryl paused from his packing as he watched her walk up slowly. She handed him the knife silently, fresh blood on it's blade but no blood on her face or her arms. Daryl was slightly taken aback by this.

"I didn' hear ya scream."

"That's because I didn't." Daryl watched as she sat down against a tree.

Len was beautiful, at least the most beautiful thing he'd seen since this thing had started. But he ignored that thought from his mind as he sheathed the knife back to his belt grabbed a piece of cloth and ripped it.

"Don't have a spare belt, but that should hold for now." Len smiled as she took it and looped it around her waist. He eyed her upper arms, that were tattooed in some foreign language down to her elbows, but Daryl couldn't place it if he tried. And he figured she wouldn't tell him about them even if he asked. "Camp's about an hour's walk from here, we better get goin'." Len nodded as she rubbed the arches of her feet still sore from breaking a set of skulls earlier. But she stood quickly and began to walk next to Daryl who had already started leaving.


	2. Chapter 2

One hour later.

* * *

When they entered the camp Len walked behind Daryl, eying everything and everyone around her.

"Dale!" Daryl called to the man sitting by a large caravan, who rushed to him quickly along with a few other people, "Brought some rabbit...and a fellow renegade." Len rolled her eyes and smirked at his comment as she watched people begin to approach them.

"Daryl, who's this?" Dale asked him, glancing around to get a look at her. But Len just hid behind him more. She didn't trust anyone, didn't have a reason to trust anyone but Daryl for now.

"This is Len. She a soloer, found 'er separated from her group and set up camp not six miles from here." Len nodded after sharing a peculiar look with Daryl, a bit shocked that he didn't tell his friends the truth. She figured he didn't trust them much either. "Was gon' take her back to her camp to get her things, but I wanted to drop these off first." He plopped a bushel of rabbits at Dale's feet as Shane stepped up.

"Daryl, can I speak with you for a moment?" Daryl's jaw tightened and he nodded at Len to stay where she was. He quickly had to come up with a reason for Shane and Rick to keep her there, no matter her skills, no one can make it in this world alone.

"What do you think you're doin'?"

"_What?_"

"Do you even know that woman? We can't take any chances—"

"That girl there," he pointed at her from behind, "killed four walkers with her bare hands—saved my life in the process. I think we can afford to take that chance."

Shane narrowed his eyes, glancing at Len when Rick spoke up. "You think she'd be an asset?"

"She'd be the best we have."

After a moment of silence Shane and Rick nodded and Daryl turned back around.

"C'mon." Daryl led Len to his bike and they rode off.

* * *

"Stop here." Len hit Daryl's shoulder and he slowed to a stop on the road. Len began to quickly walk through the woods with Daryl right on her bare heels for twenty minutes. She suddenly stopped at a couple of large bushes.

"I don't have much," she said, "Just a pack and this." She said as she pushed a motorbike out.

"Damn girl, how old is this?" Daryl asked as he fiddled with the break. His brother probably would have pissed his pants if he saw this.

"I'd say about thirty, forty years. Hero Honda Dawn, straight from India." Len said as she dug through her leather back pack and pulled out a clump of clothing. She turned around as she slipped Daryl's t-shirt over her head and put her bra into place. When she turned around Daryl saw the full extent of the tattoos on her upper back, shoulders, half way down her arms, and close to her chest but quickly lost the privilege of peeping as she pulled on her shirt. Once her shirt was on she made eye contact with Daryl who showed no signs of looking away. Len smirked and dressed the rest of her body, including a jacket and scarf that covered all her tattoos, despite the boiling temperature.

"You're gonna regret that outfit later." Daryl said as she hopped on her bike.

"Georgia is nothing compared to where I used to live—" Len then pulled another bag out from behind the bush and set it on the bike seat. She pulled out two pistols, old pistols; one with an opal handle, the other a dark wooden handle with gold filigree. She checked each cylinder, all loaded. Another, more modern pistol, checked the cartridge and then pulled out a double barreled, sawed off shotgun that was probably just as old as her pistols. Len checked it as well. "Okay. Come on, get on." Daryl climbed on behind Len, grasping her waist as she started up, making her cheeks growing rosy.

In around five minutes they were back on the road.

"Hey!" Daryl looked at her as he climbed on his own bike, "I'll race you back." He scoffed, starting his engine.

"You're on, little girl." And with hardly a second to pass Len sped off making Daryl chuckle right behind her.

* * *

Now that Merle was gone Daryl was the only one in camp with free tent space Len was set to camp with him. That afternoon Len and Daryl sat by the small fire together. He watched her as she stared into the fire. Her eyes lidded, her hair laying over one shoulder.

"What cha thinkin' bout?"

She looked at him, obviously shaken from her strange trance. "Nothing." She replied.

Daryl narrowed his eyes but didn't say anything as he went back to carving his arrows.

About ten minutes passed before Len spoke again in a gentle, hardly audible voice.

"I trust you, Daryl." She said.

"Now why would ya do such a stupid thing like 'at?"

"You saved my life, in one way or another. I probably would have died if I'd kept going last night."

"Nah, you'd have been perfectly fine." He retorted, still carving.

"You didn't tell them how you found me." He stopped carving and looked at the fire.

"They never would have let you in if I had."

"...Then I trust you can keep it a secret, I am not staying long."

Daryl eyed her while biting his lip. He nodded once. "Where will you go?"

"Louisiana. I have friends there."

"You think they made it this far?"

"No. But I just want to make sure their bodies are properly honored." Daryl nodded again and sucked in a breath.

"I hope you the best of luck then." He said before clinching his jaw. She smiled slightly at him and then stood, leaving him to the fire and didn't come back until it was nearly nightfall.


	3. Chapter 3

The next day.

* * *

"That's a pretty scarf." Amy said as she sat next to Len by the fire, smiling her cute smile.

"Thanks." Len said as she subconsciously adjusted it around her neck.

"Where'd you get it?" Len glanced at her and looked back at the fire, prodding a few logs with a long stick.

"India." She replied, her eyes then reverted to the book that sat in her lap. Amy knitted her brows in confusion and glanced around the camp as Carol, Lori, Carl, Jim, Jaqui, Dale, and Andrea all watched her shallow attempt at conversation with the new woman who still refused to engage in any conversation lasting longer than thirty seconds. Amy's lips formed an awkward line and she nodded her head as she walked back to the group.

"Forget it, Amy, she's not gonna talk to any of us for a while." Dale assured her as he and Daryl shared a look. He sighed as he stopped his carving, rolling his eyes as he walked over to Len.

And just as Daryl approached her she made eye contact and maintained it as she stood and walked past him. He grunted, paused, and followed her.

"Hey!" He yelled after her but Len kept walking. "Hey! You need t' quit bein'-"

Suddenly Len turned around and got right in Daryl's face.

"You. Tell your little camp mates to stop staring at me like I'm some kind of circus sideshow—"

"Well maybe if ya'd stop actin' like one—"

"They're askin' me questions—" She rambled.

"These people are scared, they hardly trust each other, they ain't gonna warm so easily to a stranger much less one that ain't willin' to have a conversation—"

"They why the fuck did you bring me here?!"

"Because someone like you will die out there on your own!" He yelled in her face, breathing heavily in held anger. Len stepped back, eyes wide.

"You don't know that."

"_Nobody_ can make it on their own, not even you. You need to get that through your thick, girly skull and get off your fuckin' high horse and—" And then there was blood running down Daryl's chin as he clutched his nose. Len had clocked him harder than he'd ever been hit, harder than his brother. The pain brought tears to his eyes. He breathed out, sputtering out the blood and glanced at her. She was breathing heavily but showed no signs of remorse. "You feel better now?"

Len closed her eyes and breathed in, stretching out her fingers. "...Yes."

"Good. 'Cause I ain't lettin' ya get away with that shit again. Now c'mon, it's gettin' dark."

Len nodded slowly and walked forward with Daryl following behind. He walked slowly next to her, watching her all the way back, trying to gage her emotions as he held his hand up to his nose to catch the blood. When they arrived back at the camp Len was already rushing to the tent and he tried to avoid eye contact with everyone as he passed them, a bit embarrassed that he was still bleeding from her punch, a little more embarrassed that they all knew it was Len that did it.

He met Len at the tent as she tossed him a rag and he sarcastically smiled, pushing it up against nose as she lit the fire.

No one had ever spoken to Len that way. Len wasn't offended by what he said, nor should she have been, but she hit him anyway, because she felt like it. Right then Daryl knew that Len was meant for this world, almost like he was.

* * *

Four hours later.

It began to grow dark and Len refrained from saying any words to Daryl while he glanced at her every other minute, never catching her gaze once. He watched her flip through a worn, leather bound notebook and sigh, rubbing her hands over her eyes.

"You gotta problem?" Lennon jumped slightly and shook her head, "What's 'at?"

Len fanned some of the pages and closed it.

"It's a prayer book." She said as she passed it to him. He set his bowl and spoon aside quickly and grabbed it.

Inside the thin tissue-like pages were hand written sanskrit, every page covered from top to bottom. But on the corner there was a large red-brown stain, a blood stain.

"You a Buddhist or somethin'?"

"Or somethin'." She repeated quietly to herself. Daryl handed the book back to her.

"Tell me 'bout it?"

Len sighed, knowing what he was asking of her.

"Before this all happened I lived in India for six years under the roof of a Buddhist temple in Nepal. I was a house guest for two years before I started studying under Sha-Kaganesh—the abbot of the temple. Four years under his words; the peace, the love...the prayer was all we needed. Kaganesh's main priority, though, was to teach non-violence. To approach a situation with peace and care. But when the city became infected it was only a matter of hours before they hit the temple. And you know what they all did?"

"They didn't fight back." Daryl whispered, seeing the pain in her eyes.

"They sat and meditated while the moaners took each of them out, one by one."

"But not you."

"I took up in the main prayer room with a shotgun and a cricket bat and waited until morning. When I walked out everyone was dead...their blood, their guts were everywhere, but there were no cries, only acceptance." Len began tearing pages from the book and throwing them in the fire, "The entire temple, all but one...it took a lot of will power to kill the Kaganesh...the despicable irony of it all made me sick. I was disgusted with myself having killed the one man who believed in me, even if he wasn't the same man. That was when I realized it was all bullshit." Daryl chuckled, "I wouldn't be alive without violence, and now sometimes I think I am a bit more peaceful than I was before."

Daryl's head almost hurt with such a heavy story, but suddenly something didn't make sense.

"How'd you get over here?" He asked.

Len itched her temple, fiddling with the dish in her lap. "Oh, I—uh, stole a plane."

"You're fuckin' kiddin' me." His jaw dropped.

"I would never."

"You know how to fly a plane?" He asked, remaining skeptical.

"I do now." She laughed.

"That's one hell of a story, girl."

"What about yours?"

"Mine? I don't have much of a story, just me and my brother fightin' for our lives when it happened."

"And where is he now?" She asked, careful not to step on any toes.

Daryl glanced under his brow at Rick who sat across camp. Len noticed but didn't say anything.

"He's missin'. Could be dead, I dunno."

"And how do you feel about that?"

"Honestly I'm a little more indifferent to it than I lead on, why do you care?" Len just stared at him, and he sighed, "I loved my brother but he was an asshole...Listen, I don' think I apologized for how I treated ya when we—"

"It's fine. It was a dick thing to do but I would have done the same thing to someone who looked like I did." Len laughed, finally picking up her plate and eating. She then began laughing.

"What?"

"I'm sorry for punching you." Daryl chuckled.

"You punch harder than my brother, and Merle's the hardest mother fucker I know."

"Now the second, right?" Len smirked at him and he chuckled, finishing his small dinner. He stood and began to grab his bow and load his gun. "Where are you going?"

"I'm gonna go on watch."

"Oh." Len said as she watched him leave. She looked down at her plate and suddenly felt extremely disgusted. She sighed and pulled her legs up into the chair and wrapped herself up in her arms and observed the entire camp. Len was so tired, she hadn't slept the night before, too nervous that something was going to happen, but nothing did. She felt foolish for thinking that it would, but not illogical. Something bad always happened when she was on her own. But maybe that's what Daryl had meant, in some way. On her own she had just her and only herself. But now there were men out on watch to protect her while she got a little rest. Why hadn't she realized this before?


	4. Chapter 4

The next morning.

* * *

When Len woke up Daryl wasn't in the tent, as she had expected him to be. She laid for a while to think about what Daryl had told her last night when he found her crying under heavy blankets.

_"Just 'cause ya ain't in India any more don't mean you can't still do what ya need t' do."_ In response to her plea of existential crisis over the past six years, the present now voiding the past._ "Quit your wallowin' an' go t' bed. Goddamn."_

Despite his charming sentiment he was right. It was just going to take a lot determination to get back into the mind set she'd put herself in for all those years. Len figured she first start with meditation, at the least. Perhaps later in the day move to yoga. She grabbed up a blanket and dressed herself in shorts and a tank top, not even caring in the slightest if the camp saw her tattoos.

But as Len walked out from the tent she was suddenly faced with two children. A young brunette boy with freckles and a skinny blonde girl with a heart clip in her hair; Carl and Sofia.

"Oh, hello." She said softly, trying to sound a little bit kinder than she felt. Sofia smiled as Len began to unfold the blanket. "Can I help you two?"

Carl looked down, and shyly asked, "Is it true you're from India?"

Len smirked, glancing around to find Daryl. She caught his gaze and glared at him. But he returned with the slightest smirk.

"I'm not from there, but I lived there for a very long time." They both smiled.

"What was it like?" Carl asked as Len spread the blanket out and sat upon it. She crossed her legs.

"A lot better than here." And she closed her eyes. A few moments of silence passed and Len opened an eye, hoping to see them gone. But they were still expectantly standing there, like children do. She sighed and opened both of her eyes.

"India...is like a rainbow." She started and the both of them smiled and sat down in front of her quickly. "Everywhere you look there's a woman in bright red, a man driving a turquoise blue taxi, a—a camel holding a newly wed couple in all sorts of gems and silks and netting. Sometimes if you're lucky you can see elephants covered in red and white and yellow paint with jeweled hats and saddles. The air is hot but everything moves so fast, the country creates it's own breeze." By this moment Len had the two of them in her palms by just her words. She talked to the both of them for two hours before teaching them how to meditate. But by then as they were all silent Len began to realize how much she missed India and all it's beautiful scenery. It was a struggle to keep herself crying.

* * *

Thirty minutes later.

* * *

"Sofia!"

"Carl!"

Carol and Lori began to panic as they hadn't seen their children in over two hours. Daryl and Rick perked up and began looking around but suddenly Dale ran up to them, smiling.

"Follow me." He said as he led them all to the edge of camp where Daryl and Len's tent was. What they saw was, dare Daryl think it, adorable. Len sat, cross-legged, eyes closed, hands resting on her knees and Carl and Sofia facing her, mirroring her posture.

Lori walked up to the kids and touched their shoulders, they both jumped but quickly came out from their sort of stupor and smiled hugely at each other. Lori smiled as well, though slightly out of confusion.

"What are you guys doing?"

"We were meditating, mom. It's really fun." Sofia nodded.

"Len taught us." She said. Lori looked at Len who still had her eyes closed.

"Len?" She said, "Len?" Louder. The woman still sat.

"Len said that sometimes when she meditates it's like she's in another world. She said it's better than this one. She also said it's almost impossible to wake her from it." Carl said as they began to walk off.

Daryl walked forward. "Len." He called as he stood in front of her, "Lennon." Daryl then sighed and knelt down and shook her a little too violently. "Len!" Her eyes shot open and she gasped, her whole body convulsing as she savagely pushed Daryl's hand from her shoulder and jumped away from him a good five feet before she looked around with a terribly confused expression consuming her brow. She breathed deeply, still confused and stared at Daryl.

She stood and grabbed his bow he'd set down and rushed off toward the woods with it. Daryl knew he probably shouldn't have bothered her, but he couldn't have a nearly catatonic liability just sitting out like live bait, could he? Nor could he let her go too far with his bow. But Dale stopped him before he could go.

"Perhaps your's is not the face she wants to see right now. Just give her time, she'll be back soon." Daryl clinched his jaw, staring out into the woods.

"Whatever." He said as he walked back to his tent and climbed inside.

* * *

Ten hours later.

It was night, probably around midnight and Len still hadn't made her way back yet. Daryl kept telling himself that he'd give her another hour before going out to look for her. But he'd been giving her the benefit of the doubt for three hours now. Just as he was about to sit up from his sleeping bag he heard the zipper of the door slide open quietly. He watched a faint outline of a head pop in.

"Did I wake you?"

Daryl grunted, and rolled so his back was facing her, "No."

"Good." She said as she stepped in. "I need you to come down to the quarry to keep watch while I wash myself off."

"Are you askin' or tellin'?" Daryl muttered angerly, he heard her sigh and then felt a heavy clunk of metal land on his legs.

"Please?" She whispered. Daryl sighed, already regretting it as he sat up and walked out. When they reached the quarry he finally got a good look at her from the moon's reflection on the water giving out light.

"Jesus christ, what'd you do, gut a walker and bathe in it's blood?" Daryl stood shocked as Len began to remove her clothing. She was completely covered in blood, just like the first time he'd met her. He turned his head quickly before she jumped into the water.

"I went into town..." She ducked her head into the water.

"What'd you do that for?"

"I needed to get away..." She floated still in the water, bobbing up and down, "Being with such a large group just..." Len sighed and let herself drop back under and swim out farther. Daryl sighed himself and sat up against a rock, peering around occasionally. After about ten minutes he heard some splashing and Len was quickly out of the lake with a blanket wrapped around her body with her clothes in her hands.

When they got back to the tent Len didn't even bother dressing herself as she practically launched her body onto her sleeping bag.

Before then, the past two nights, Len never really said a word to Daryl as they slept in the dark not four feet from each other, but something took ahold of Len when she asked him how he was.

"Why do you care?"

"I don't know." She replied, "I just do."

"I'm fine." He replied. She chuckled.

"Yeah, just how I'm fine."

"...that was some weird shit you were doin' eariler." He said, Len smirked in the darkness.

"It was zen." She said. "I figured they needed it."

"Well the kids were ten times more annoying than they usually are, so good job." Len laughed, actually laughed.

"I used to meditate all the time. But doing it earlier today, just made me sad—made me want to kill things." Daryl's eye brows raised.

"Well you're in the right world for it."

"...I feel like I belong in this world." She said, not ashamed of it at all. Daryl always thought he was better fit for this world as well.

"This world is hard," Daryl started, "But simple. Takes people like us to make sense of it."

"People like us?" She asked.

"Violent people."

Len sighed, looking up through the tent's skylight. You could always see the stars like that in India. For a moment she was as content as she was there. Daryl's grumbled words fell over her like wet fabric.

"Good night Daryl." She said quietly, Daryl grumbled in response already half way to sleep.


	5. Chapter 5

_Oh dear oh dear! I'm so glad you all told me about me posted the wrong chapter I have NO IDEA how that happened! Thank you so much for letting me know, I never would have caught that! Thank you, lovelies!  
_

_I know I don't usually post an author's note but I might as well throw a little bit more out there and just say that I work best with criticisms and even better with just positive reviews. I just really want to know if I'm doing a good thing here and so far that's not totally evident, unless it's something wrong like what just happened with me posting a chapter from a different story onto this one. But I digress, and I will probably continue to update no matter what. And sorry this one is so short, but the next one will be much longer. Please enjoy!_

* * *

The next morning.

* * *

Len walked slowly over to Dale's gentle camp fire where he sat with Glenn and Morales who struggled to keep their eyes open, watching her feet the entire time. When she looked up at him she sucked in a quick breath.

"Dale?" She asked, looking him directly in the eye. His eyebrows shot up.

"Hello there! Up a little early aren't you?"

She smirked, shuffling her feet and glanced around quickly before stating quickly, "I always get up this early."

"Me too." He glanced at the mat in her hands. "Can I help you with something, dear?"

"Um, yes. I was wondering if I could commandeer the top of your RV for a little while..." She trailed off, hopeful. Raising her mat, "Yoga."

"Well, sure. I don't see why not. Just don't hurt yourself." She nodded gently, smiling. Len quickly made her way over to the ladder and climbed up.

Dale watched her curiously as she laid out the mat, her body nearly completely silhouetted by the morning sunrise. Len quickly jumped on her hands, sticking her legs straight into the air and held herself there for a good two minutes before lowering herself slowly so her knees balanced on her elbows.

"Jesus christ. How is that humanly possible?" Glenn muttered.

"Glenn?"

"Yeah?"

"Does Len seem familiar to you in any way?"

Glenn narrowed his brows. "Not really. Why?"

Dale shook his head after a moment. "Never mind."

* * *

A few hours later.

At around nine Len swiftly made her way down from the RV and back into her tent. She was surprised to see Daryl there cleaning his handgun.

"Morning." She said as she tossed her mat inside and sat down.

Daryl watched her under his brow as he brushed around a cartridge. "Morning." He replied as she flopped on her back and closed her eyes. "Was yoga part of your monk training?"

"Sort of." She chuckled, "I've always done it. But it does have it's better effects during meditation."

Daryl nodded.

"I can teach you, if you like." Daryl scoffed loudly.

"No thank you." Len just laughed, her eyes still shut. Daryl switched to his cross bow and began to dismantle it. "So you're like a legit buddhist monk then?"

"In a way, barely. I wasn't fully there yet, but I did everything they did. Ate the way they ate, slept the way they slept, prayed the same way they..." She sighed.

"So you were celibate too then, huh?" Len opened her eyes and sat up on her elbows leering at him.

"Why does it matter to you?"

He shrugged, avoiding her eyes, "Jus' curious, s'all."

Len smirked and laid back down, "To answer your question, no. I wasn't. I hadn't taken that vow yet...I doubt I would have ever taken it anyway."

"Why's that?"

Len paused, breathing in, "Just a feeling. I feel like vowing over something as personal as my sexuality would be the end of it. No turning back...what good ever came of not turning back?" After a moment of silence Len let some of the hot air boiling in her mind free and she sighed, "But if I'd been a virgin it would've been much different." Daryl smirked, now more than half his attention on her than his bow. Because of this he suddenly slit his finger on the wire, cutting it pretty deep.

"Shit." He cursed and held his finger looking around for a cloth, but before he could grab a spare t-shirt Len grabbed his hand and wrapped a red handkerchief around his fingers. She applied pressure and glanced at it. "I can do that m'self."

"Shut up." She said, holding the cloth on his hand like she was holding his hand. Daryl let her though, surprised by her assertiveness. He looked down at the cloth to see it was the same color as the blood trickling from his wound. He scoffed in surprise.

"Good idea." He said, admiring the fact that she too didn't like to show weakness, even if it was through a little bit of blood from a wound.

Len smiled. "Just keep this on there for an hour or so and you'll be fine." She looked up at him and swear she saw a sliver of wanton in his eyes as she stood but was stopped by Daryl's hand still grasping hers. She clutched his hand warmly and kneeled back down.

There was suddenly a loud roar of excitement in the camp that captured both their attention. Outside Andrea and Amy had returned with two chains filled with fish, everyone was excited for the meal they were to have that evening.

Len turned to Daryl and smiled. "I think I'm gonna go for a walk. I'll be back soon."

"Yeah, you better. We're eatin' good tonight. Be a shame to miss it." He passed Len the knife in his belt. Len nodded, grabbing it, breaking the eye-contact and brushing her fingers purposefully against his.

"Be sure to bandage that later. Just in case." She said and she disappeared almost instantly into the woods.

Daryl watched her and sighed out, running his hands through his hair. He couldn't believe that he'd almost kissed her. It was like it was the most logical thing to do. Her sitting there with her ashy eyes looking at him and her nimble fingers brushing his, her hair pulled completely back from her face—Daryl wanted to rip that string from her hair just to see how it fell over her shoulders and framed her face.

He grumbled at his thoughts and went back to his tent to bandage his finger up.


	6. Chapter 6

Five hours later.

* * *

Len was back. No blood on her, no ripped clothing, a completely clean blade. She said she didn't cross a single walker even though she went pretty close to the city limits.

Soon the sun began to set and they were all enjoying a wonderful fish dinner. Everyone was happy and getting along, laughing at stories they all told. Len and Daryl sat amongst them as well, not talking as much but laughing with them all the same.

Morales asked a question about Dale's constant winding of his watch to which Dale replied with a Faulkner quote leaving everyone in a stunned silence when Len, feeling obligated as she sat next to him, said gently, "My mentor always used to tell me that one must always govern time lest time would end up governing you."

"Exactly!" Dale said, smiling happily down at Len who sat on the ground.

"You two are so weird." Amy said as everyone laughed and Len looked down. Amy left to go to the bathroom as gentle talk floated around the group. Len looked at Daryl who eyed her but showed no other expression. She hadn't gotten a single work out of him all night.

Suddenly there were horrific screams over by the RV and then without another second to pass the entire group seemed like it was overrun with walkers. Len was the first to take action, without thinking she grabbed up the baseball bat by her feet and ran up to the oncoming walkers in front of everyone. She knocked two but her main concern was to get to the zombie biting Amy.

Len clocked it just as it bit Amy's neck. She smashed it's head in and quickly rolled Amy onto her back.

"Amy—Amy? Can you hear me?" Len pleaded quietly as gunshots rang out but she just mumbled quietly staring at her. Len was pushed out of the way by Andrea who screamed and cried Amy's name.

Len clinched her jaw and went back to killing walkers. Using her knife she was able to kill them quicker.

After five minutes almost every walker was dead save for a few, including one that took Len by surprise. It grabbed a chunk of her hair making her cry out, catching Daryl's attention. It gargled in her face and suddenly there was an arrow shot through it's skull, stopping just barely an inch from her eye. Len sighed out and pushed it to the ground when Daryl rushed over to her.

"You bit?!" Daryl yelped at her, brushing her hair behind her shoulders to check her neck, running his hands over her back and arms, feeling everywhere appropriate just to make sure.

"I'm fine. Daryl, I'm fine." She said as she pushed his hands down, assuring him. He nodded and turned his attention to Andrea who was bawling over Amy, who was dying in her arms.

"Saw what you did for her." Daryl said to Len.

"Wasn't enough to save her though. Nor anyone else." She sighed as she looked around at all their fallen members. She didn't have to choke back tears but she did have to force herself to look at Daryl when she said, "I'm just glad you're okay."

"Don' gotta worry 'bout me. It's your ass you should be worried about; acting like a fool, jumpin' 'round with that knife o' yours—nearly got yourself killed not watchin' your own back."

"Guess I was lucky you were watching it for me." Len smirked at her coy statement but also retaliated, "Thank you." Daryl nodded, his jaw clinched, hiding his shaking hands behind his back. Len noticed it but didn't say anything, definitely something for another time.

* * *

When Len was young she once thought that if you stood in the evening light long enough you'd become transparent. And now, standing in his gaze that summer eve she was reminded of that childish dogma but suddenly it felt all the more real. Love alone was not enough for her, nor for him. Daryl didn't know what love was and seemingly neither did she.

It was morning and Len sat in the tent, meditating with her back to the door. She'd been meditating so deeply for past two hours that when Daryl walked in she didn't even hear him. He sat on his side of the tent, being as quiet as possible, watching her before he had to start clean up again.

He thought it extremely peculiar that she could focus so earnestly and for so long. He'd be lying if he said it didn't intimidate him either, the way she spoke sometimes to him as well—he knew there was something great about her. And she couldn't see it either. But maybe he was just caught up on her, blinded by her grace. And when she killed walkers...Daryl could hardly contain himself, even though he'd never experienced such a strong emotional attraction to a woman he knew what he felt, he knew exactly what it was. But he wasn't about to go global with it either.

No, Daryl was the type to let something like this simmer and wait until everything evaporates. In the meantime, it didn't exactly help that Len slept not three feet from him every night. He just hoped she was content with it as well.

* * *

_Please review and let me know how you like it?_


	7. Chapter 7

Morning.

* * *

Andrea was still hanging over Amy, threatening anyone who tried to move her away.

"Y'all can't be serious!" Len rolled her eyes, "You just gonna leave that dead girl there? She's a time bomb."

"Daryl stop." Len interjected lazily.

"Let her be." Shane followed.

"Take the shot. Clean through the brain. I could hit a turkey 'tween the eyes from here." Rick and Shane would still have none of it, aggravating Daryl to no end. It didn't bother Len as much as it should have. She knew Andrea would do what had to be done, when it had to be done.

Len had wrapped one of her scarves over her nose and mouth as she helped Daryl move some of the bodies into a burn pile. The smell nearly crippled her. They'd been at this for twelve hours and Len was one of the only ones still willing to work with Daryl after he endlessly pissed everyone off enough to tire them out. Morales grabbed up a body with Daryl as Len dispatched a man's head in with a pickaxe.

"What are you doing, man?!" Glenn squeaked out. "Geeks go over there!" He gestured toward the burning pile no one wanted to think about. "They're infected!" Daryl and Morales dropped the body in the burn pile.

"You reap what you sow." Daryl said as he brushed his hands on his pants. Morales glared at him.

"Just shut up, Daryl."

"You left my brother for dead!" He yelled with such pain it made Len cringe, "Y'all had this comin'!"

And with that he stormed off after no one replied to him. Len dropped the pickaxe abruptly and rushed after him.

"Hey!" She grabbed his arm.

"What?!" He yelled, spinning around in her face. "You got somethin' to say little girl?"

Len clinched her jaw and stared him dead in the eye, "What the fuck do you think you're doing?" He stared blankly at her, unwilling to answer the question. "Have you not been here for the past twelve hours, you jackass?!" She hit his arm, merely to make a point. "Half of the group is gone, brutally killed by walkers and you're still bitching about your fucking brother?! I understand that your compassion is not high above shallow, if at all, for anyone but yourself and Merle. But try to look besides that at the big picture here."

By now Shane, Rick, Lori, Glenn, and Morales were all watching the two of them. When Len noticed this she spoke quietly, dragging him behind the RV.

"What's really the matter, Daryl?" She looked him in the eye while he constantly avoided her eye. "Hmm? I know this isn't about your brother, nor all the deaths. What is it?"

Daryl rolled his eyes, "Why don't you just go meditate in the woods and leave me the fuck alone?" He spat and attempted to rush away but Len grabbed his arm and pulled him back. She didn't say anything, just stared at him.

Daryl tightened his fists and leaned against the RV. Len could tell he was attempting to hold something in and she just wanted him to let it out. And after several moments, he did.

"I just...I heard ya scream—at first I couldn't see ya and I felt like...I thought you were dead and I...I felt like I'd done some wrong by you. Like I'd failed you just like I did my brother..." Len's eyes widened.

"Daryl..." She reached for his hand but he jerked himself away, turning his back. She saw the red handkerchief she given him stuffed in his back pocket. "You don't owe me anything. I told you that. I saved your life, you saved mine. It doesn't matter."

"Yes it does." He muttered, sauntering off as far from her as he could get.

And that's when they heard it.

"A walker got him! A walker bit Jim!"

* * *

"We should put a pickaxe through his head and the dead girl's and be done with it." Daryl urged, showing no sympathy.

"For the love of god," T-Dog pleaded, "the man's still alive!"

"Only a matter of time." Daryl replied, making Len rolled her eyes. By then, she was nearly done with him as well. Rick, Shane, and Daryl all started talking amongst themselves, mostly considering whether they ought to try for a cure for Jim. Then Rick mentioned the CDC and all hell went loose.

"If the problem is this crazy fuck, I'll take care'a him right now." Daryl grabbed the pickaxe with murder in his eyes. Len quickly jumped in front of Jim making Daryl stop in his tracks, staring at her with mixed anger and frustration. Len knew that he wouldn't even think of trying to go through her, not after what he'd told her earlier. She couldn't let Daryl become a murderer.

* * *

_Please let me know what you think? _


	8. Chapter 8

After they had properly burned and buried all the bodies Shane told Len and Daryl to go out and scout a perimeter north a ways, just to be safe, while he and Rick took the south.

Len struggled to keep up with Daryl as he shot every which way through the woods, eyeing everything through his scope.

"Daryl, you know there's nothing here." Len said, trying to get him to stop. "And you know if there was it won't matter because we're not staying here much longer."

Daryl sighed, as he lowered his crossbow. He didn't have say anything to let Len know he understood. She approached him from behind. She knew he was still upset with her when she stepped in his way of killing Jim but all she really wanted to do was wrap her arms around his waist and kiss the back of his neck, to whisper in his ear that she really really wanted to care about him, more than she ever had anyone before. She couldn't let him become something like that. But she couldn't tell him something like that.

When she was inches from his back Len couldn't do anything but rest her forehead on his back, between his shoulder blades. Daryl tensed up faster than she expected him to. Len pulled her head back quickly and he turned around. When he saw the ever familiar expression of vulnerability on Len's face his eyes immediately softened. He dropped his cross bow and Len quickly shot into his arms.

She muttered something into his chest but he couldn't make it out. And even though Daryl was completely abashed by her form clinging to his torso he immediately wrapped an arm around her shoulders and held her head against his chest.

Len started shaking and Daryl gripped her tighter, trying to figure out why she was so fragile in moments like these.

"It's okay, Len. It's okay." He tried his best to console her but she still clung to his form for dear life.

After about five minutes Len began to pull herself together but still lingered in Daryl's arms.

"I'd do anything to protect you, Daryl." She admitted, to Daryl and to herself. "If there was anyone that had a purpose in this world anymore...it'd be you."

Daryl didn't know what to say. He thought she just spoke lies, though he didn't know why she would.

Len pulled back and rubbed her eyes. "Sorry." She said stepping back from him. Daryl quickly put a hand on her cheek and she gently leaned into his palm. Len placed her own hand on top of his and moved to kiss the edge of his hand where his wrist met the joint to his thumb. A sensitive spot if Daryl ever had one; anywhere Len's lips rested.

* * *

Len accompanied Daryl in his truck, both their motorcycles tied up in the bed. Every now and then Len would look over at Daryl but he wouldn't look at her. She ended up leaning against the door, stretching her legs across the seat, her toes occasionally brushing Daryl's leg.

Within ten minutes she had fallen asleep. Daryl glanced over at her, glanced again and smiled.

But soon Dale's RV broke down and everyone stepped out of their cars. Daryl left Len to her nap though, he figured she needed the sleep.

"I told ya we'd never get far on that hose." Dale muttered to Rick. "I needed the one from the cube."

"Can you jury-rig it?"

"That's all it's been so far. It's more duct-tape than hose."

"Y'all," Jacqui jumped out of the RV, "Jim—it's bad, I don't think he can take anymore."

Daryl rolled his eyes and kept watch, glancing every which way. Rick walked into the RV when Andrea approached Daryl.

"Where's Len, Daryl?" She asked.

"She was out like a light—still in the truck." Andrea nodded and walked down the road towards Daryl's truck.

She knocked on the driver's side window and Len jumped awake. She saw Andrea and rubbed her eyes quickly as she hauled herself out of the truck. Andrea walked around and approached her.

"Hey Len..."

"Hey." She yawned.

"I just wanted to say sorry for being so rough with you last night. And I wanted to thank you, for trying to save Amy. It's more than I could have done." Len smiled sadly and nodded.

"It's no problem, Andrea, I did what anyone of us would have done."

"Yes but you did it before any of us could process what was happening. It was brave of you." Len nodded her head, looking at her feet. "If...you don't mind me asking, how old are you?"

Len chuckled, "I'm 25."

"Just a year older than Amy." Andrea said wistfully, smirking. Len smiled.

"My birthday's coming soon I think, if I'm counting the days right. I hear yesterday was hers, May 2nd?"

Andrea nodded, as Len glanced around her to see Jim being escorted out of the RV.

"Jim's finally made his decision."

Andrea looked at her with a peculiar look in her eye. "How d'you know? They could be taking him out there to kill him."

"If that was the case Daryl'd be following like a hawk, but he's standing by the RV. I feel like Rick would honor a choice to leave Jim by himself." Andrea nodded, understanding her thinking.

"Did you go to college, Len?"

"Me?" She looked at Andrea, laughed, watching Rick and Lori talking in the distance. "No, no. I—uh, I didn't really have the means, nor the—uh, motivation."

"Oh, that's a shame, you're a very intelligent woman." Len wanted to scoff but she held it in and nodded. Andrea followed behind her when she started to walk over to where everyone was gathering around Jim.

Len placed herself next to Daryl as everyone said their goodbyes to him. Daryl and Len lingered, he nodded and left as she walked forward.

"Hey Jim." He smiled.

"Hey—L—Len...what's—what's up?"

Len laughed, "Not much. How 'bout you?"

"Oh, nothin' just catching some sun." Len laughed gently as she heard Daryl cleared his throat. She glanced back at him and he nodded his head toward the truck. "Looks like your man getting a little anxious."

"He's not—" Len paused glancing back at Daryl. "He's fine."

"You know," Jim grunted and twisted against the tree, "Daryl's a good guy."

"I know." She smiled.

"Even if he did try to stick an axe in my head." Len smirked, "But you stopped him, just by standing in front of me..."

Len was confused, though she didn't show it, as to why Jim was saying these things to her, talking to her. But she quickly attributed it to his fever and tried to follow his words.

"He is a good guy, and you...you'll make him an even better one, in time." Len paused, watching Jim carefully. But she quickly grabbed his hand, suddenly recognizing what he was trying to tell her. Len knew that earlier, when he dreamt of the graves, he'd shown signs of precognition. "Imagine that...love amidst the apocalypse."

Len tried to laugh with him but what he just muttered scared her to death. She glanced at Daryl who gave her the "what the fuck" shrug and she quickly turned back around and eyed Jim. She didn't say anything but Jim knew what she was asking and he nodded. Len stood up, her eyes on his as she walked back over to Daryl.

"S'bout time." He muttered and they both returned to the truck. When they got back on the road Daryl looked at her, biting his nail, "What he say to ya?"

Len snapped her head towards him, pulled from her thoughts, "Um, nothing, really. He was just talking nonsense."

Daryl nodded and kept his eyes on the road, not speaking another word until they got to the CDC.


	9. Chapter 9

_Sorry it's been so long, been super caught up with work and other projects but I finally found some time and I figured I might at well update what little I have left and if people start to enjoy it, that'd make me motivated to write more! So please do tell me how you like this one!_

* * *

"You all submit to a blood test, that's the price of admission." Len shifted uncomfortably, her hand on Daryl's flannel tightening. Daryl leered at her from the corner of his eye as she inwardly cringed and kept her gaze to the ground. Rick nodded.

"We can do that." He said as everyone walked forward. Len shuffled to the back as everyone followed the man into an elevator and led them into a large medical room.

The man, Jenner, took Andrea's blood first.

"What's the point? If we were infected we'd all be running a fever." She said.

"I've already broken every rule in the book lettin' you in here. At least let me be thorough."

After he was finished she stood up and staggered slightly but Jacqui ran to her side to help her.

"She hasn't eaten in days." She said, "None of us have."

"Well, when we're all finished I have a kitchen full of emergency supplies. You all can indulge yourselves tonight." He said taking Rick's blood.

After ten minutes they were finally down to Len and Daryl. He gestured for her to go and she fiercely shook her head. Daryl rolled his eyes and pushed her shoulder forward.

"No." She muttered and Daryl grabbed her arm and dragged her to the chair.

"Afraid of needles?" Jenner asked as Len took off her jacket, Jenner eyed her tattoos aware that she most likely was not.

"Not really." She turned her under arm to Jenner and tying a tourniquet around her upper arm. When a little vein popped up he brought the needle towards her. Len jumped back quickly, pulling her arm to her chest and looked away, "Sorry," she muttered, opening her arm again. Jenner's eyes were on her before she nodded, telling him to go at it again. He bent down and rested the needle at a vein but stopped. He pulled the needle away and looked up at her. They were faint and only a trained eye could spot the scars but they were there and they were multiple.

"How long's it been?" He asked her in a hushed tone. Len eyes never left his as she muttered.

"Six years."

"How many years did you abuse?"

"...Five—five years." Jenner raised his eyebrows.

"Well, your blood should be fine." He told her, she nodded, glad he was keeping the conversation between them. "But I'll have draw from somewhere else, I'm guessing the other looks the same?" Len nodded.

"You can draw from my neck." She assured him. "My hands are no good, and my feet. You'll have the best luck with an vein in my neck."

"You sure?"

"Have you done it before?"

"I have, but only once." Len nodded.

"I'm gonna trust you not to puncture my jugular, Doctor." Jenner smirked and breathed in.

"Okay..." He pressed a finger at the base of her neck and a vein soon grew under the surface of her skin. He brought the needle to it when Daryl started yelling.

"What the fuck do you think you're doin' Doc?!" Jenner pulled back and looked at Daryl.

"I can't get a vein in her arm, this is only place I can get a good one." Len turned herself in her chair and looked at him.

"It's fine, I told him to." Daryl held eye contact with her as Jenner put his finger back on her neck and quickly drew a vile of blood. He slipped the needle out and placed a piece of gauze over the prick that started bleeding.

"That'll bleed for about an hour and then you'll be fine." Jenner said as Len stood and pulled Daryl down in the chair as rough as she could.

"Your turn." She said and walked out of the room and sat out in the hallway. No sooner than a minute later Daryl barged out of the door and started walking down the hallway but stopped when he saw Len out of the corner of his eye. He saw her and paused.

Daryl bit his fingernail as he watched her stare at the ground.

"Everyone's having dinner."

"I'm not hungry."

"Am I gonna have t' drag ya to the kitchen too?" He said. Len sighed, her finger still on her neck. Daryl bent down and slowly placed his hand over hers and glanced at the wound under the gauze. He nodded and his thumb traced her jaw, "I asked Jenner what that was all about, he told me to look at tha underside o' your arms." Len looked at him, her eyes slightly frightened. "But I already know what's there."

"How?"

"Saw 'em a few days ago. My brother has the same scars." Len looked down and Daryl knew that look all to well, a gentle look of shame. "Don' phase me none. 'Less you're still ridin' the white pony, then we may have a problem."

Len shook her head, "It's been six years." Daryl nodded as he kissed her forehead.

"C'mon." He muttered and pushed her hair from her eyes.

Len sat up and walked next to him towards the kitchen.

* * *

Everyone soon began to file out of the kitchen to go to their rooms and shower. Daryl remained sprawled out on a chair with a bottle in his hand. Len watched him curiously. "Are you drunk, Daryl?"

Daryl laughed, "Only a little." Len laughed, taking the bottle and resting it on the table. She slowly pulled him up to a standing position, having him lean on her. "Oh, thanks." He chuckled as he leaned onto Len. "Why ain't you drunk?"

"I can obviously hold my liquor better than you, which is a bit weird." He snorted, wrapping his arms around Len's shoulders, "You're so shit-faced, Daryl."

"Bullshit." He muttered, walking with Len towards an empty room. When they walked in Len shut the door behind them. "Thanks for helpin' me."

"You probably wouldn't have made it past the kitchen if I'd left you there." Daryl scoffed and heaved himself onto the couch and started to take off his shoes but was struggling with his laces. Len sighed and knelt down and untied them for him.

"Shit, Len." She pulled his shoes off and placed them perfectly in line next to the couch. "I'm gonna take a shower, you wanna take my clothes off too?"

Len looked him in the eyes and smirked. "You want me to?"

Daryl paused and looked at her. Never had he gone from being so shit-faced drunk to sober so fast in his life.

Len smirked, only kidding, resting her hand on his cheek and left.

…

After Len had showered she dressed in one of the dresses she used to sleep in while she was in India. It was a gentle cream colored fabric of thick silk. Fabric she was comfortable in.

Len ran a towel over her hair, brushing her fingers through it, actually realizing how long it had become. She'd never looked at herself in a mirror in seven years, the temple never allowed it, nor could she cut her hair more than once a year, and that was just so it'd be healthy to grow for the next year. It reached well past her shoulders and she silently wished she had a gel or a curling iron, just to see what it'd look like. But she was stuck with her thin strings, pulling her locks over one shoulder and letting it dry that way. At least when it was all bunched together it didn't look like straw.

Len sighed as she exited her room, with her mat in hand, planning to meditate in the rec room with the kids. But as she walked toward the door Shane barged out looking dazed. When he bumped into her he gave a frightened, crazy look and stormed down the hallway. She gently opened the rec room door and saw Lori holding herself, sobbing violently. She looked like a scared, baby deer.

Without hesitation Len dropped her mat and ran over to her.

"Len." Lori sputtered out and clutched onto her shoulders, heaving herself at the her.

Len's eyes widened and she quickly pushed away the feeling of discomfort to comfort Lori the best she could. Len rushed to her, not thinking that she needed to be comforted but that she was hurt, and in some way, she was. And Len knew it have everything to do with Shane.

"Lori, c'mon, it's okay." The older woman shook fiercely, and Len had never felt such secondhand sadness in all her life. Lori cried until her legs gave out and she fell to her knees with Len. She gently brought the woman up from her shoulder and eyed her, "Tell me what happened." Len brushed some of her tears from her cheeks and held her hands on her face to get Lori to look at her. "It was Shane, wasn't it?"

Lori nodded, "It's nothing, just—stupid shit."

Len shook her head, "No. Not stupid. Look at what he's done, Lori."

Lori breathed in, placing her hands on Len's wrists, bring them down and holding her hands. "He was drunk, came in telling me he loved me, but he lied to me Len, he said Rick was dead—where-where else was I supposed to find a comfort? And now that Rick's back I just—I can't deal with him anymore, he's out of control." Len breathed in, watching Lori's face every second, "He came in here, tried to kiss me and touch me. I had to scratch him to get him off...you can't tell Rick any of this, Lennon. You can't."

"Lori..."

"Len, you promise me." She squeezed her hands. "Rick can't know any of this."

Len closed her eyes and nodded but looked Lori straight in the eye, "But if he ever touches you again, Lori, I'm doing something about it." Lori smiled sadly and nodded, fully knowing that Len couldn't handle Shane, but conceded anyway.

"Thank you." Her hand rested on Len's face, "And don't tell Daryl either."

"Why would I tell Daryl?" Lori just replied with a knowing look in her brow, to which Len rolled her eyes slightly.

"You're such a good person, Len, thank you."

Len nodded, "C'mon, let me me help you back to your room."

"So, this thing with Daryl..." Lori asked as they walked down the hall. Len looked toward the ground.

"There isn't a 'thing'."

"Oh, please, Len, no one here is blind to the relationship you two have." Len shook her head.

"There is no relationship." She replied gently, but bluntly.

They stopped at Lori's door. "But you want there to be one." Len tried not to look too abashed by her completely true statement. "Don't tell me that's not true, either, I've seen the way you two interact; like two nervous teenagers one second and like an old married couple the next. It's weird." She laughed.

Len chuckled and nodded, but not completely understanding what she meant.

"I'll see you tomorrow, Lori. And if you need anything, my room is just down there." Len pointed to the door that was conveniently located right next to Daryl's. Lori nodded.

"Want me to wake you up for breakfast?" Len smiled. Even though Lori couldn't be more than five years older than Len she still took on a motherly role that Len adored.

"Yes, thank you, that'd be wonderful." Lori kissed Len's cheek and closed her door behind her.

Left in the hallway Len leaned against the wall and sighed, trying to process what just happened. She knew the reason Lori brought up her and Daryl was to get her mind off of Shane. And that whole thing was something she'd have to reserve time to think about, not only because she had secret to hide but also because now Lori mentioned Daryl, who she still couldn't forget about even for a moment. That's why she was going to the rec room to meditate.

In the rec room Len meandered around, looking at the books and through the cabinets trying to get her mind from the ridiculous redneck. She spotted something on a shelf though, that made her smile.

…

Len stood outside Daryl's door, staring at the the white wood trying to bring herself to knock. She fought to equalize her breath. Her hands fiddled with her new find from the rec room as it hung from her neck and she finally just sucked in her breath and opened the door.

The door opened easily with no squeaks. She closed the door behind her and the gentle click it made when she closed it made Daryl, who sat with his back to her on the couch, quickly turn to her. His face suddenly showed relief but then confusion.

"What're ya doin' here?" He grumbled as he eyed her and the camera around her neck, "Where'd you get that?"

Len brought it up to her face, "The rec room." She opened the flash and took a photo of his hands, clasped in front of him. "I just wanted to..." She paused and pulled the camera off from her neck and placed it on the coffee table. "I don't know, I'm sorry." Len quickly turned to leave but Daryl grabbed her arm before she could. He stood and hovered over her.

"You don' need ta be sorry." Len looked at his hand that was still around her arm and she nearly melted from his touch, much like she had in the woods the day before. But she shook her head, knowing for some reason, some way, this was wrong.

She pulled herself from his arm and headed for the door and left.

Daryl could hear her own door quickly slam behind her. He sighed and looked at the table where she discarded her camera. He saw the photograph of his hands that she'd taken. He could use that as a good enough reason to go see her, to at least talk to her. But when he opened his door a moment later he saw Len, her small form standing there about to open it.

Her eyes lit up though and she grabbed his shirt and kissed him with such might Daryl nearly lost his breath, just nearly though. Daryl grabbed her shoulders and pulled her in, slamming the door and pushing her up against it. The camera was dropped and Daryl kissed her again, not as gentle as he was intending but Len responded quickly. She pulled his hair and bit lightly on his bottom lip making him moan into her mouth.

He ran his hands through her damp hair, catching a few knots as he pulled her head back and kissed her more deeply. She moaned, his tongue suddenly on hers and right then she could have melted into his arms.

Daryl quickly pulled back and picked her up, purposefully wrapping her legs around his waist. Len kissed him again before motioning toward the couch. When he dropped her on the couch with him she started to unbutton his shirt.

Daryl quickly pulled back and caught her hands but she'd already caught sight of a dark scar across his ribs. She eyed it for a moment before placing her fingertips on it. The skin wasn't risen but the scar was there. Daryl tried to button his shirt back up but Len caught his fingers.

He sighed above her and closed his eyes.

"I didn't want you to see those."

"There's more than one?" His eyes still closed he nodded. Len sighed and placed her hand on Daryl's cheek as they sat next to each other. He looked at her as she brought his hand to the underside of her arm. She traced his fingertips over the small healed track marks. Daryl sucked in a breath and looked at her, his fingers clasping around her arm. He kissed her gently and she let her fingers run down the side of his face.

"I really care about you Daryl." Daryl looked down and refused to make eye-contact with her. "But I don't care if you have these scars on your body. _Don't phase me none_." He smirked and as she snaked her hand over the top of his chest that was exposed and she could have sworn he got chills. She slowly began to unbutton his shirt, all the way this time and Len ran her hands over his chest and back as he kissed her again.

Len laid back and Daryl followed over her, his arms wrapping under her.

Daryl's hand rested on Len's knee, as she leaned against him.

"This isn't going to last." She said, not referring to their position but their new home at the CDC. Daryl looked at her with a hard expression.

"I know." He looked down, "But that doesn't mean we can't make it last for at least the night." Len smiled. Daryl smiled back as his hand pushed her dress up to her thigh until he reached the edge of her underwear.

…

"You have such long hair, jesus." Len smirked as Daryl ran his hands through her hair, her head on his chest.

"I wasn't allowed to cut it more than an inch a year at the temple."

"Man," he said, "Can't imagine that, my hair's pissing me off already, touchin' my ears." He muttered, scratching his ear while he said it.

"I can cut it for you sometime, if you want. I could probably make it even." Daryl nodded.

"Yeah, I'd like that." His gentle tone making Len almost squirm in his arms. Daryl smiled, wishing he could see her. Within their multiple escapades within the past three hours they had turned off the light, but now he so wished they hadn't. He fought a yawn, knowing it was the darkness that brought it on.

"We should probably go to sleep." Len said and Daryl sighed.

"'Suppose you're prob'ly right." He scooted closer the edge so that Len had room to lay. He held her hand to his mouth and rested his lips on her fingers. Not in a kiss but just rested them there. His breath warm on her cold skin.

Len's fingers traced his lips, his facial hair and cheeks gently and tiredly. Daryl never wanted anyone in his entire life to touch him, but with Len it just felt like air, a natural breeze of relief that he could trust another person under his skin. And he fell asleep with that thought in his head, knowing that Len was someone he thought he'd never meet.


End file.
